GETTING STARTED

You have completed your basic course of training to become a referee, taken the exam, and passed with flying colours. You are now one of the elite. You are now one of the Football Association's Referees. In the euphoria you readily agree to officiate your first game at the weekend. As you proudly announce this to anyone who will listen somebody says "Are you going to be fit enough to do it?" In anticipation of this great day, of course you have been training hard for weeks, and the 6km or more you will have to run at varying speeds and directions will not cause you any problems at all. Will it? If you have been fairly active recently you will probably be fine, but if you are taking up refereeing after a long lay-off you will need to ascertain whether you are in good enough condition before entering the field of play.

Tip - You should always get fit to referee and not referee to get fit.

Warning - The older you are and the longer you have not been involved in physical activity the more care you must take before starting to referee. Whatever your age the amount of exercise you do should be carefully considered so you do not suffer from undue fatigue or strain. After a bout of exercise you should feel 'pleasantly tired' and not totally exhausted. If you do too much too soon you will become fatigued and the results could be harmful. Getting fit is a slow and gradual process and cannot be achieved overnight.

Advice - A medical check-up should not be necessary before you start a fitness programme. However, you should start gently and gradually increase the amount of exercise you take. Consult your doctor if you have any doubts about your health or if you have a history of heart disease, high blood pressure, chest trouble or aches and pains in your back or joints.

Thought - Fitness is not an exam, you cannot cram it all in at the end.

It is your responsibility as an active referee to attain and maintain a level of fitness appropriate to the level at which you referee.

You are now ready to start refereeing or you are returning to refereeing after a long lay-off and you want to find out how fit you are at the moment without causing undue stress on your body. The Fitness Awareness Profile can do just that, and can be carried out by yourself at home.

The Fitness Awareness Profile measures the basic essentials of physical fitness:

BODY WEIGHT; BODY FAT; FLEXIBILITY; MUSCULAR STRENGTH; MUSCULAR ENDURANCE; HEART AND LUNG STAMINA.

It consists of twelve activities, each activity being graded A, B, or C.

A:     means you have done very well.
B:     means you have reached a satisfactory level.
C:     means this is an aspect of your fitness that needs to be improved.

Use your Fitness Awareness Profile Chart (at the end of this page) to record your scores and tick the appropriate column. Hopefully, all of your ticks will appear in the A and B columns, but if any appear in the C column it would indicate an improvement is required. After a few weeks you can test yourself again to see what improvements have been made.

The first five activities are concerned with your WEIGHT and the amount of FAT you are carrying.

Use the Height/Weight Chart (see below)  to find out which category you are in.

The chart can be used for men and women, as this is not a measure of body fat but of how much actual weight you are carrying around the field of play.

Score:

A     Your weight is within the Desirable range.
B     You are into the Overweight category by up to 4kg (9Ib).
C     You are into the Overweight category by more than 4kg (9lb).

Advice - It is important to weigh yourself regularly, especially if you were in, or near, the overweight column. There is no need to weigh yourself every day - once a week is quite sufficient - and if possible you should use the same scales each time. Stand evenly on the scales and wear the same amount of clothing each time, or better still wear nothing at all. Your weight will fluctuate during the day so try to weigh yourself at one particular time, either first thing in the morning or just before you go to bed.

Tip - If you are into the Fat category you should try to lose some weight before undertaking any strenuous exercise.

Stand with your shoulders back and your chest fully expanded. Measure the circumference of your chest just beneath your armpits. Then measure your waist at navel height, with your stomach in a relaxed position, i.e. not sucked in or forced out.

Score: Men

A     Your chest measurement is 12.5cm (5in) greater than your waist.
B     Your chest measurement is between 5cm (2in) and 12.5cm (5in) greater than your waist.
C     Your chest measurement is less than 5cm (2in) greater than your waist - or your waist measurement is bigger than your chest measurement.

Score: Women

A     Your chest measurement is 25cm (10in) greater than your waist.
B     Your chest measurement is between 12.5cm (5in) and 25cm (10in) greater than your waist.
C     Your chest measurement is less than 12.5cm (5in) greater than your waist
- or your waist measurement is bigger than your chest measurement.

You can now analyse your fat content more closely. Too much fat tissue is not beneficial to you as a referee, so if you can find out what percentage of your body weight is actually fat, it could be a very useful piece of information for you. Too much body fat can have a far more detrimental effect on your performance than the ageing process, so you should strive to ensure you do not carry more fat than is necessary.

Thought - You can't stop yourself getting older but you can stop yourself getting fatter.

Fact - It is normal for an adult man to have about 10 - 20 per cent of his body weight as fat with 15 per cent usually considered to be average. For an adult woman the average is between 23-25 per cent fat. Very fit and active people could be well below these average figures.

Men - Measure the circumference of your neck, just below your 'Adam's Apple', and your abdomen, at navel height. Turn to the BODY FAT PERCENTAGE CHART FOR MEN (below) to find out your fat percentage.

Example -    Neck circumference is 38cm (15in)
                    Abdomen circumference is 84cm (33in)
                    Predicted Body Fat is 15%

Women - Measure the circumference of your neck and abdomen as for the men. In addition measure the circumference of your arm around the biceps, your forearm just below your elbow and your upper thigh. 

See to the BODY FAT PERCENTAGE CHART FOR WOMEN (below). 

Find the points scored for each of your five circumferences. 

Add all the points together and subtract 55. The figure you are left with is the predicted percentage of body fat you are carrying.

Measure the circumference of your neck, abdomen, biceps, forearm and thigh, in cms. Find the points scored for each of your 5 circumferences. Add them all together. Subtract 55 from the total. The figure you are left with is the predicted percentage of body fat you are carrying.

ACTIVITY 4: FIND YOUR TARGET WEIGHT           Take me back to the top of this page

Your Target Weight is based on the assumption that men have approximately 15% body fat and women 23% body fat, and predicts what you would weigh if you had that amount of fat and no more. Everybody needs some fat on them to help insulate the body against cold and to act as a secondary energy source. If you have more fat than is recommended it means there is the opportunity to lose weight.

This is how you work it out.

STEP 1. Multiply your actual body weight by your body fat percentage.

Example: You weigh 73kg (1601b) and you have 25% body fat

73 x 0.25 = 18.25kg of fat (160 x 0.25 = 40lb of fat)

STEP 2: Subtract your fat from your actual weight.

Example: 73 – 18.25 = 54.75kg (160 – 40 = 120lb)
This is what you should weigh if you had no fat at all.

STEP 3: To calculate your target weight divide your fat free weight obtained in STEP 2 by 0.85 if your are a man and 0.77 if you are a woman.

Example:
Men 54.75/0.85 = 64.5kg (120/0.85= 141 lb)
Women 54.75/0.77 = 71.0kg (120/0.77 = 156 lb)

(The reason you divide your weight by 0.85 and 0.77 is that these figures represent the amount of fat you are allowed to have. If you subtract 0.85 from 1.0 it leaves you with 0.15 which represents the 15% fat men are allowed to have. Similarly for women 0.77 subtracted from 1.0 represents the 23% fat allowed.)

STEP 4:

You can now work out how much weight you should aim to lose by subtracting your target weight from what you weigh at the moment.

Example:
Men 73 - 64.5 = 8.5kg (160 -141 = 19lb)
Women 73 – 71 = 2.0kg (160 – 156 =4lb)

Score:

A     You need to lose less than 2kg (5lb)
B     You need to lose between 2kg (5lb) and 7kg (15lb)
C     You need to lose over 7kg (15lb)

This will tell you whether or not you are the right weight for your height.
Square your height in metres, write down the result.

Divide your body weight in kilograms by this number.

Example.
1.75 x 1.75 (height in metres) = 3.06
73kg (body weight) divided by 3.06 = 23.8

Score:

A Your score is below 22
B Your score is between 22 and 26
C Your score is above 26 Your score is below 22
B Your score is between 22 and 26
C Your score is above 26

The next activity will measure your FLEXIBILITY.

Stand up straight and bend forward at the waist until your finger tips reach the top of your toes or as near as possible to your toes.

Caution - If you have had a history of low back pain be very careful with this particular exercise. In this case it would be better if you sat on the floor with your legs out straight in front of you, then bend forward from your waist to try and touch the top of your toes. If you have had a history of low back pain be very careful with this particular exercise. In this case it would be better if you sat on the floor with your legs out straight in front of you, then bend forward from your waist to try and touch the top of your toes.

Score:

A You can reach to within 2.5cm (1in) or less of your toes.
B You can reach to within 2.5cm (1in) and 12.5cm (5in) of your toes.
C There is more than 12.5cm (5in) between your fingertips and your toes. You can reach to within 2.5cm (1in) or less of your toes.
B You can reach to within 2.5cm (1in) and 12.5cm (5in) of your toes.
C There is more than 12.5cm (5in) between your fingertips and your toes.

Stand still behind a mark and then jump forward as far as you can.

Score:

A     Your jump is more than 15cm (6in) greater than your height.
B     You jump between 15cm (6in) less and 15cm (6in) more than your height
C     Your jump is more than 15cm (6in) less than your height.

Lie on your stomach and find some way of keeping your feet on the floor. Perhaps someone can hold them down for you or you can wedge them under the sofa or bed. Lace your fingers behind your head or keep your hands off the floor and raise your chin as high as possible. It does help if somebody else can measure how high you lift your chin, but if you are doing this on your own you may find it easier to lie with your head close to a wall so that you can quickly place your hand on the wall at the level of your chin.

Warning - Do not lift higher than 45cm (18in) or lift your shoulders up quickly.

Score:

A     Your chin is over 38cm (15in) off the floor.
B     Your chin is between 8cm (3in) and 38cm (15in) off the floor.
C     Your chin is less than 8cm (3in) oft the floor.     Your chin is over 38cm (15in) off the floor.
B     Your chin is between 8cm (3in) and 38cm (15in) off the floor.
C     Your chin is less than 8cm (3in) oft the floor.

The next two activities measure your MUSCULAR ENDURANCE.

ACTIVITY 9: PUSH-UPS            Take me back to the top of this page

Lie flat on the floor face down. Place your hands directly under your shoulders. Keep your legs and back as straight as possible and push upwards until your arms are also straight and your body has been lifted clear of the floor. Now lower yourself back down to your starting position. Do as many as you can up to a maximum of 25.

Score:

A     You do 20 or more.
B     You do between 6 and 19.
C     You do 5 or less.     You do 20 or more.
B     You do between 6 and 19.
C     You do 5 or less.

ACTIVITY 10: SIT-UPS           Take me back to the top of this page

Lie on the floor with your knees bent and your hands interlaced behind your neck. Slowly curl up until your elbows touch your knees and then return to the starting position. Do as many as you can but no more than 30.

Warning - Do not do this activity with your legs out straight. Do not do this activity with your legs out straight.

BEND YOUR KNEES.

Score:

A     You do 20 or more.
B     You do between 6 and 19.
C     You do 5 or less.     You do 20 or more.
B     You do between 6 and 19.
C     You do 5 or less.

The last two activities measure HEART AND LUNG STAMINA.

ACTIVITY 11: HOLDING YOUR BREATH           Take me back to the top of this page

Breathe deeply two or three times and then hold your breath for as long as is comfortable. There is no need to hold your breath for longer than one minute.

Score.

A     You can hold your breath for over 50 seconds.
B     You can hold your breath for between 30 and 50 seconds.
C     You cannot hold your breath for longer than 30 seconds.     You can hold your breath for over 50 seconds.
B     You can hold your breath for between 30 and 50 seconds.
C     You cannot hold your breath for longer than 30 seconds.

ACTIVITY 12: A ONE MINUTE STEP TEST             Take me back to the top of this page

For this activity you will need to take your pulse.

Advice - To do this, turn the palm of your hand towards the ceiling and lightly place the first 3 fingers of the other hand on the bare wrist just above the heel of the thumb. To do this, turn the palm of your hand towards the ceiling and lightly place the first 3 fingers of the other hand on the bare wrist just above the heel of the thumb.

Find a strong chair, stairs or firm box about 45cm (18in) high. Step up and down 30 times in 1 minute so you complete one step every 2 seconds. It may help to count ONE --TWO -- THREE -- FOUR, as you do it. At the end of 1 minute SIT DOWN and find your pulse straight away (within 10 seconds).

Count the total number of beats you feel for the next 2 minutes.

Score:

A     Less than 200 beats counted in 2 minutes.
B     Between 200 and 240 beats counted in 2 minutes.
C     More than 240 beats counted in 2 minutes.     Less than 200 beats counted in 2 minutes.
B     Between 200 and 240 beats counted in 2 minutes.
C     More than 240 beats counted in 2 minutes.

You have now completed your Fitness Awareness Profile, and by looking at the ticks on your chart, you should have a picture of where you stand at the moment.

Advice - If you have ticked an 'A' or 'B' in all columns you should be fit enough to start refereeing and to train regularly to improve your fitness level still further. If you have ticked an 'A' or 'B' in all columns you should be fit enough to start refereeing and to train regularly to improve your fitness level still further.

Activities where you scored 'C' indicate an improvement is needed. As long as there are not too many in the 'C' category and you did not score 'C' for activities 11 or 12 there is no reason why you should not begin training with a view to officiating at your first match when your fitness profile has improved.

If you have scored mainly in the 'C' category, including a 'C' for activities 11 and 12, your fitness level is low and you should undertake exercise gradually, taking care not to do too much too soon. (See section on 'Improving and Maintaining Fitness').

Return to your Fitness Awareness Profile after a few weeks to see what improvements have been made.

FITNESS AWARENESS PROFILE                      Take me back to the top of this page